Davenport officer feared injury in dog shooting.

In its statement, the city of Davenport wrote that the officer “expressed his sincere fear of being seriously injured, and we believe the officer's body-worn camera supports his statements.”

The city's statement did not name the officer but expressed condolences.

“The incident is concerning to us, especially because children were present,” the statement said. “The Davenport Police Department immediately assured the city that they would review the incident and ensure that police department standards were met. That review is now complete. While we recognize the desire for a more expedited response, we are taking time to perform due diligence.”

In a separate statement, Davenport police said that after reviewing the footage and interviews, the officer's actions “were deemed lawful.”

The statement also mentioned a report in the Quad-City Times that said the police officer involved in the incident, identified by dog ​​owner Don Hesseltine as Ethan Bock, also hit and killed an unleashed dog with his police vehicle on July 13. The two incidents were not related, it said.

“The city also wishes to acknowledge a media report that the same officer was involved in an incident on July 13. Knowing that we cannot mitigate the loss of a pet, the city and police have worked with the dog owner to find a financial solution,” the statement said.

“But to be clear – these incidents, while both tragic, are unrelated, and any attempt to portray them as malicious acts is inaccurate,” the city's statement said. “The violent threats and harassment on social media directed at the officer and his family are wrong and terribly inappropriate.”

“The City of Davenport expresses its condolences to the dog owners in both cases and remains committed to being transparent in all matters of public interest.”

Hesseltine shared footage of the shooting from two different angles on social media last week. The footage shows a police vehicle approaching Hesseltine's son, his cousin and the dog as the boys were riding bicycles in the alley behind Hesseltine's house.

Davenport's leash law requires dogs to be on a leash unless they are on fenced private property.

According to an August 28 press release, police investigated a report of four dogs running loose that appeared to be behaving aggressively and were attempting to climb over the caller's fence and get to their dog.

Hesseltine was not present at the time of the incident, but said Officer Bock rolled down the window to signal to the boys that they needed to put the dog – a 2-year-old golden retriever-German shepherd mix named Myst – on a leash.

As the footage shows, after the conversation, the boys dropped their bikes in the alley and walked toward the house with the dog.

Another video shows the dog standing near the house with the boy's mother, Brandy Russell, looking out into the yard.

According to the city's Aug. 28 press release, the officer parked his patrol car and approached the adult present “to let her know why he was speaking to the children.”

As Buck approaches the yard, Myst barks and runs across the lawn toward the officer, the footage shows. Russell tries to call the dog back, and she and one of the two boys begin to follow the dog toward the officer.

As Myst reaches him, Buck bends down and extends his right arm toward the dog, who is approaching him. Myst wags his tail.

As he backs away, the officer moves his right hand to his right hip. Myst follows him and barks loudly. Bock's right hand comes forward again and points at the dog.

Two shots are heard and Myst screams. After the shots, Myst runs through the yard back to the house and falls over.

The city's press release contained the officer's report prepared during the operation.

“The dog charged me at full speed and barked aggressively. I heard the adult female say 'Oh no.' I began to back away and extended my left hand in hopes that the dog would detect my scent and back away from me. The pitch of the dog's barking changed to a threatening bark. The dog continued to bark at me and bared its teeth. I noticed that the dog had saliva coming from its mouth. The dog lunged at me several times and snapped its teeth in an attempt to bite me. I dodged the dog several times as it lunged at me and snapped its teeth. This caused me to fear that I was seriously injured. I drew my service weapon and continued to back away. The dog lunged at me as I backed away and attempted to bite me. I fired my weapon twice, striking the dog.”

The department's statement last week did not mention that the officer was injured.

In an interview last week, Hesseltine said Myst did not bite the officer.

“That's because you let your child out,” a voice can be heard saying in the video showing the alley shortly after the shots. It cannot be heard in the video showing the courtyard.

Hesseltine says that voice is Bock's.

“Who the hell says something like that?” Hesseltine said in an interview on August 22. “Especially after you just killed my damn dog in front of the kids.”

As of Tuesday morning, he had still not heard from police about the incident, Hesseltine said. He discovered Bock's identity by zooming in on the officer's name tag and face on his home surveillance video.

The week since the shooting has been tough, said Hesseltine. He called Myst his “best buddy.”

“Every day is filled with sadness and silence,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. “You come home and wait for your buddy, and he's not there.”

Myst loved to stick his head out the sunroof during car rides and would only bark at the mailman, Hesseltine said. His 7-year-old son and the boy's cousin often argued about who the dog's real owner was.

Watching his son grieve was “one of the hardest things” he's ever experienced, Hesseltine said, even compared to his experience as a war veteran. On his first day of school last week, Hesseltine's son didn't want to take back-to-school photos without Myst there, he said.

Hesseltine has circulated a petition on social media calling for Bock's conviction, saying he wants the officer to be held accountable for “destroying a little boy's life.”

“We don't want this guy in our town,” Hesseltine said. “We don't want him working for us.”

By Tuesday afternoon, nearly 1,500 people had signed the petition. According to Hesseltine, the initiator was a stranger to the family who offered his help.

Hesseltine said his family is grateful for the support they have received since the footage was released last week, adding he has received calls and messages from people saying they have not been able to sleep after watching the footage.

People sent flowers, cards and one gift in particular that Hesseltine's son treasured: a stuffed black dog, along with a card signed by “a former West End kid.”

The dog was carried around the house by Hesseltine's son, who rubbed him with Myst's old collar so that the stuffed animal would carry his scent.

“He took a white pen and drew a little white spot on his chest, like Myst, Myst's original puppy collar that he wears,” Hesseltine said, panting.